Thursday, December 23, 2010

Book Review for Voices of the Faithful Book 2

Voices of the Faithful - Book 2: Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving Around the World



The latest book I received from Booksneeze in exchange for a review is Voices of the Faithful book 2. The reason I requested a copy of this book is because I had already read the first book and believed that this book would be more of the same encouraging, informative stories submitted by missionaries around the world.


I was not disappointed. This book is in a daily devotional format. Each month starts with a theme. For instance January's theme is Prayer, the Priority. February's is God, Our Loving Father. March- Divine Appointments and so on. Before the devotionals is a short introduction by the compiler Kim P. Davis. These introductions include her personal experiences as a missionary as well as thoughts on each months theme.

Each day starts with a scripture verse followed by a short essay by a missionary, concluding with a prayer by Beth Moore who is the series creator.

What I like about the testimonies of the missionaries is that you are drawn in, for a brief moment, into their world. Each story gives a you glimpse of the country they are living in, the people they are working with and the challenges they face.

Some of these stories are powerful, like the one from a Tamara, missionary in central Asia who, by several promptings of the Holy Spirit, reluctantly turned around to help an old, limping woman transport her groceries home. When the elderly lady got into the car Tamara noticed that the woman was not holding groceries but rotten food she had picked out from the local dump. The woman's hands were black and slimy.

Upon arrival at her stop, I asked if I could pray for her. She said, “No, I will pray for you!” Placing her sticky hands on my head, she prayed a powerful prayer that God would fill me with peace and hope, and bless my family. She then gathered her bags and exited the car.


Wow.

These missionaries honestly describe their homesickness and discouragement when, at times, they feel they just aren't making any difference. Then there are the triumphs, as when missionaries at a hospital tell an African woman dying of Aids that even though the blood transfusion she just received would only last a few days, there was One called Jesus who has offered His blood to her so she may live forever. This woman received His blood on her death bed.

There are many such inspiring stories in this book that records how God uses his people to bring His gospel to Middle Eastern Muslims, African and Latin American spiritists, or European skeptics. This book makes the reader cognizant of who they need to add to their daily prayers and be a part of the warriors who intercede on behalf of the anointed people whom God has sent out to “Preach His Gospel to every people.”

I highly recommend this book.

2 comments:

The Engineer said...

Nice review - it's a plus to have quotes from the text in the review. You might add a few other points like how many pages long the book is, whether it's illustrated or not, and (for the price quoted), whether it is soft or hardcover. Keep up the good work!

Sharon Wilfong said...

Thanks for the input. It's about 365 pages long, no illustrations and the copy I have is soft cover. On the back of my book it says that it is for $14.99.